Allentown Band marches on with Sousa

GO MUSIC

July 04, 2002|By Philip A. Metzger Special to The Morning Call - Freelance

"The hall really rumbles when the 32-foot pipe sounds."

That's the observation of Ron Demkee, conductor of the Allentown Band, about the effect of the large pipe organ, apparently second only in size to the one in Lord & Taylor's in Philadelphia, when it sounds during the band's performance of Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" in the Great Auditorium of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association in Ocean Grove, N.J.

That's where the Allentown Band will be performing Saturday, for the 16th time.

Demkee, the retired director of the Freedom High School Band, has been conducting the Allentown Band since 1978. He wasn't on the podium the first year the band played in Ocean Grove, however. A John Philip Sousa impersonator (Demkee assures me there are several such people in the country) named Keith Brion had used the band as his "Sousa" band on several occasions, and took the group to its first appearance in Ocean Grove. But Demkee has taken his rightful place in front of the band every year since.

The setting, the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, run by the United Methodist Church, is a modern version of the great 19th-century popular improvement, the Chautauqua, named after the town in New York where it began. Ocean Grove is a few miles south of Long Branch on the New Jersey shore.

In this year's program, the spirit of Sousa lives on, although Demkee points out that he isn't about to dress up as the maestro.

Nonetheless, the program, "Celebrate America, a Concert in the Style of John Philip Sousa," has a number of the march king's best, including "Liberty Bell March," "Fairest of the Fair," "The Thunderer" and "Washington Post March." It concludes with (what else?) "Stars and Stripes Forever."

The monster organ will participate in "Washington Post March," as well as the Tchaikovsky overture.

It's not only the Sousa marches that attract listeners; the program also features some of the band's favorite soloists.

Band member and cornetist Frank Kaderabek will play Clarke's "Showers of Gold," soprano Susan Boyer will sing gospel songs and tuba player Sgt. Michael Forbes, visiting from the U.S. Army Band, will do another Clarke piece, "From the Shores of the Mighty Pacific." Gordon Turk will be in command of the organ.

Having said all that, I have to add that it's not really necessary to drive to Ocean Grove and pay the $15-$20 ticket price to see the concert. You can have it all, or nearly all, for free Friday, at 8 p.m. in Allentown's West Park. The only thing that won't be present in the West Park version is the denture-rattling organ. (Rain location is Scottish Rite Cathedral, just across Linden Street from the park).

For information about the Ocean Grove concert, call 1-800-773-0097 or www.oceangrove.org.

The Ocean Grove and West Park concerts are among a whirlwind five concerts the band is playing this holiday weekend.

Wednesday it played at Pastorius Park in Philadelphia. Today it plays at 7 p.m. at Gov. Mifflin High School in Shillington as part of the town's Community Days celebration. And at 7 p.m. Sunday, the Allentown Band plays its annual "Sundae in the Park" concert at Souderton Community Park. Rain location is Indian Crest Middle School.

For more information on the band, call 610-437-1116 or visit www.allentownband.com

VIOLINS, FLUTES, TRUMPETS

Last Sunday evening Valley Vivaldi made its second foray of the summer into the works of Baroque composers. The concert at Cedar Crest College included a Vivaldi violin concerto, a Leclair trio sonata, a trumpet concerto by Johann Neruda, and two works by Bach, his trio sonata in C minor and the Suite No. 2. It was an evening of violin, flute and trumpet solos.

Larry Wright performed the Neruda trumpet concerto, the only piece this Czech/German composer seems to be known for, with his usual panache. Trumpeters obviously treasure this work because their repertoire of concerti is rather small.

It's a better-than-average second-rate baroque piece, full of pleasant phrases that seem to go in one ear and out the other. A minute or two after enjoying it I couldn't recall a single tune.

This is also probably an accurate description of the Leclair trio sonata. Violinist Simon Maurer gave it life with excellent phrasing and sense of style, and was ably supported by violist Agnès Maurer and cellist Deborah Davis.

The opening violin concerto by Vivaldi was performed solidly by Rebecca Brown. Indeed, solid is the apt word for this typical Vivaldi concerto, which chugged along nervously.

If you want to understand why Bach is so superior to most other Baroque composers, this was the ideal concert. Both the trio sonata and, in particular, the Suite, which featured Robin Kani as flutist, demonstrate the power of first-rate imagination to transcend period style.

The suite was in fact a wonderful conclusion to the concert. Kani managed just the right balance between solo and ensemble playing, and the rest of the Valley Vivaldi musicians matched her in well-integrated ensemble playing.